Welcome

Welcome to the POZ Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
others concerned about HIV/AIDS. Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the
conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning: Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive
and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a
username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own
physician.

All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators
of these forums. Click here for “Am I Infected?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ community forums.

We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please
provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are
true and correct to their knowledge.

B12 injections are normally given for anemia (vitamin B12 deficiency), they are also used for weight loss, fatigue, pernicious anemia etc etc...if you are thinking of using the injections I would talk to your Doc first just in case they are a contraindication for any meds you are currently taking.

Anyone heard of those. I heard they are beneficial to energy, metabolism. Etc.

Has anyone had experience with those?

No experience with the shots here, but you can get your B12 level checked through a blood test to find out if you are deficient. If so, oral B12 supplements may work, and are much easier to take than shots. Sublingual ones are most absorbable.

No experience with the shots here, but you can get your B12 level checked through a blood test to find out if you are deficient. If so, oral B12 supplements may work, and are much easier to take than shots. Sublingual ones are most absorbable.

I could be wrong, but I recall there being some absorption reason as to why injections were preferred over oral. I'm too lazy to go googling about it though.

If you eat enough meat you should be getting enough B12. If you do not eat enough meat, you should. Organ meats (liver!) are fantastic for this (as well as for copper, zinc, selenium, B6, COQ10....) but even regular ground beef should give you enough. If you are eating enough meat and still have a deficiency of some sort that would indicate a serious problem.

Sounds like your in a struggle,I too have had afew of the same problems you describe in your posts both here and in weight gain.I am on Truvada Reyataz and Norvir once a day for two years now and undetectable.I have also had weight gain issues I have been on marinol, megace,even to the extent of my doc putting me on andro gel still on BTW and then Remeron 45mg and the seroquiel to help me sleep as i have problems there also now that I'm on andro gel the pump once A day after my shower before bed and combined with the remeron and seroquel 50mg I have gained in three months 14lbs and still climbing I hope.I have a regular diet no fried foods and exercise by walking my pug four times A day about a half mile each walk, most days i end up carrying him back home as he is outta shape and has breathing difficulties. But I'm at 140 now two years ago at my worst i weighed 107lbs in the hospital with pcp for 23days.

So I will say this to you be careful how you go about thing always work with your doctor and together you to will find an answer to your problem and if you try some of the things i mention under your doctors care please let me know,And I'm sure if you do it will be a good report.

If you eat enough meat you should be getting enough B12. If you do not eat enough meat, you should.

Nestor, in the pre ARV days, AZT caused anemia, regardless of how much meat someone ate. I've always eaten meat, and I remember having to get blood transfusions because of AZT-induced anemia. I remember the doc calling me saying "your hemoglobin is 4, get to the hospital for some blood." I couldn't find anyone to drive me there, so I drove myself. That was quite the ride.

Logged

I've never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices.-Clarence Darrow

in the pre ARV days ... couldn't find anyone to drive me there, so I drove myself. That was quite the ride.

those were the days, weren't they BT? When I had the PCP, I couldn't find a ride into the hospital and walked 14 blocks, literally in the snow, to get there. by the time I had pneumonia 2 yrs later, I had a car and drove myself, but then I was all delerious with a fever of 105.

Logged

leatherman (aka mIkIE)

All the stars are flashing high above the seaand the party is on fire around you and meWe're gonna burn this disco down before the morning comes- Pet Shop Boys chart from 1992-2015Isentress/Prezcobix

Quote from: Nestor on Yesterday at 10:01:32 pmIf you eat enough meat you should be getting enough B12. If you do not eat enough meat, you should.

Nestor, in the pre ARV days, AZT caused anemia, regardless of how much meat someone ate. I've always eaten meat, and I remember having to get blood transfusions because of AZT-induced anemia.

I know. That's why my next sentence was:

Quote

If you are eating enough meat and still have a deficiency of some sort that would indicate a serious problem.

About a month or two before she died (but nobody at that time had any idea that the end was coming so soon) my mother became severely anemic. I told her to eat lots of liver and she did. At the next test, she was as anemic as she had been before; the liver hadn't made a dent. (multiple transfusions didn't make much of a difference either.) I think her anemia was caused by chemotherapy, and since, if I remember correctly, AZT started its career as a form of chemotherapy, all of this would make sense.

But the OP does not sound as if he's suffering from severe anemia; if he is, he doesn't indicate it. He merely says:

Quote

Anyone heard of those. I heard they are beneficial to energy, metabolism. Etc.

Has anyone had experience with those?

It sounds to me as if he's simply heard somewhere that B12 would be a healthy supplement. That's why I said that the normal way to ensure an abundance of B12 is to eat red meat, especially organ meats. I added the last sentence to indicate that my advice was given on the assumption that there wasn't a serious problem in his case.

the normal way to ensure an abundance of B12 is to eat red meat, especially organ meats.

That reminds me! It's sweetbreads season (thymus and pancreas of calf and lamb) -- just delicious. Do you like these? I'm also big on bone marrow -- it's like butter on toasted baguette. And divine foie gras . Obe ata pelu Shaaki ó Nigerian Stew made with large chunk of cow and goat tripe.

However, I'm not big on heart dishes but as always will try everything once.

Of course, it's hard to find such dishes in the US, unless you focus on Mario Batali's restaurants which spearheaded the US consumption/use of ofal dishes in the mid-90s.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Wow, I didn't know sweetbreads had a season! I like them well enough but don't actually have them all that often for some reason; I tend to focus on liver and kidneys since they're the ones that are packed with vitamins and minerals. I happen to love heart, both beef (anticuchos!) and chicken (wrapped with bacon). Heart turns out to have CoQ10, too. It's also really easy to make; marinate for a few hours and put under the broiler for five minutes or so.

The Nigerian stew sounds great! About half the time I've had tripe in restaurants it's been great, and the other half of the time it's been terrible, so I'm a little bit cautious before ordering it, but there's a very spicy tripe and tongue combo in most Sichuan restaurants that I order whenever I can. However, I don't think tripe is the nutritional powerhouse these other things are, so I don't go out of my way to eat it.

Of course Fois Gras is great!

Actually, not only are liver and kidneys among the healthiest things we can eat, but they are among the most inexpensive. (I mean when we cook them at home, not when we order them at a Mario Batali restaurant!) It always makes me sad to hear someone say "I don't have the money to eat healthy food" when in fact most of the healthiest foods (organ meats, brown rice, beans) are so cheap.

Insert Quote~shudder~ IMHO, offal is just what it sounds like - awful!

I've found a few suggestions really help improve the taste of liver to someone who isn't used to it.

First, we should get calve's or lamb's liver, which will be much tastier than the liver of a mature animal.

We can marinate it in lemon juice or a good vinegar for a few hours before cooking; we can cook it minimally; I think a lot of kids hated liver because their parents were making tough leathery over-cooked liver. I usually cook liver only until it is still borderline raw in the center.

We can serve it with some rich sauce containing mustard and beef stock and sour cream, and lots of onions and mushrooms and garlic--one person I know insists that garlic is essential to good liver. I agree, but then again, I think garlic is essential to almost everything.

Finally, a good sour dish like saurkraut is almost necessary to balance out the richness of all the above.

All of the above goes for kidneys too. These certainly aren't things I grew up eating, but I've come to like them a lot!

1176% of the DRV of B12,714% for copper,634% for vitamin A,210% for Riboflavin,88%, 71%, 63%, and 51% for four of the other B vitamins, and52% for Selenium (!),

As for kidneys, they have only a mere 415% of the DRV of B12, but 210% for the (to us) all-important Selenium!

The traditional recommendation to eat with (real) saurkraut or some other lacto-fermented vegetable seems wise from the nutritional point of view, since saurkraut, being rich in Vitamin C, would balance the meal, as well as having the probiotics to help digest the rich meats.